The Mets (15-11) crushed the Nationals (9-12) on Saturday afternoon, winning 10-2 at Tradition Field.
Jacob deGrom pitched for the Mets and was terrific, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits in 7 innings, striking out 4 and walking 2.
The Mets got a runner on in the bottom of the first against Stephen Strasburg when Curtis Granderson walked, but David Wright hit into a double-play to end the inning. In the bottom of the third, with Ruben Tejada on second after a double, Strasburg issued another free pass, this time to Juan Lagares, who had worked a terrific at-bat with two outs. Granderson made Strasburg pay, hitting a three-run shot over the right field wall. Wright was up next and added a shot of his own, this one a solo blast which put the hosts up 4-0 (and sparked a weak but amusing “Harvey’s Better” chant in the stands).
After deGrom worked around a two-out double by Clint Robinson to put up a scoreless top of the fourth, Travis d’Arnaud hit a three-bagger with two gone in the bottom of the frame. But Strasburg, like his counterpart, was able to strand the runner, fanning Tejada to end the inning.
deGrom again stranded a runner in the top of the fifth thanks to a double-play started by the Captain, but the Nats finally got to the long-haired sophomore in the top of the sixth, when Bryce Harper led off with an absolutely titanic blast to make it 4-1.
Harper didn’t get to savor the moment for long, though. In the bottom of the inning, Lucas Duda hit one towards the corner in right off of lefty reliever Jerry Blevins, and Harper took a seat while trying to play the carom, watching in embarrassment (and apparent discomfort) as the ball squirted past him and Duda ended up on third base with a rare triple.
Tanner Roark came in to face Michael Cuddyer, who greeted him with a single through the oddly-positioned infield, scoring Duda. Cesar Puello came in to run for Cuddyer and scored on a double to the wall off the bat of Wilmer Flores, putting the Mets up 6-1.
deGrom worked a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the seventh to finish the day, and the Mets put the game out of reach in their turn at bat. Johnny Monell led off with a solo shot against Roark, and after the Washington pitcher bounced back to retire the next two hitters, Dan Uggla made an error on a weakly hit ball from Danny Muno, extending the inning. Duda took advantage, lining one over the wall in right to put the Mets up 9-1. After Puello singled, Matt Reynolds hit a pop-up just past the infield that, with some help from the wind and Uggla, dropped in for an RBI “double” to make it a 10-1 game.
Zach Thornton, acquired in the Ike Davis trade, was the first man out of the pen for the Mets, and he faced two batters, retiring Uggla before walking Kevin Frandsen. Sean Gilmartin came in to face the lefty and failed to do his job, walking Harper. Buddy Carlyle came in and walked Wilson Ramos to load the bases, but got Mark Minicozzi to ground into a double-play to end the inning.
The Mets failed to tack on any insurance (and I use the term loosely) after Matt den Dekker‘s double in the bottom of the eighth, and Jeurys Familia came in to wrap things up. Familia struggled, giving up a run on 3 hits, but eventually put the game to bed, giving the Mets a win over their division rivals.
The Mets’ offense has been terrific this spring and, while a few of those home runs may have been wind-assisted, and the Nationals could have played better defense, Terry Collins‘ club continued to rake today. Four home runs, some great at-bats, some two-out magic, and wiping grins off the faces of Strasburg and Harper is a formula for a fun day.
deGrom was great, as usual. He was attacking hitters, pounding the zone, keeping his pitch count low, fielding his position well, and he went deeper in the game than any Mets pitcher this spring. He looks ready for the season.
Grandy, Wright, and Duda going yard is cause for great optimism. So is Flores driving balls in the gap, Cuddyer coming through with runners on base, Juan Lagares working some great at-bats as he prepares for the leadoff role (or the #9 slot), and Monell ensuring that the Mets will have two guys who can take the ball out of the park behind Travis d’Arnaud. I’m not sure who I want to win the backup catcher job. I’d go with Recker, but it’ll be good to have Monell in the system as well.
Tejada has hit decently this spring. He shouldn’t have too big a role going forward, but we need infield depth, and if Daniel Murphy isn’t ready to start the season, we’ll need somebody to play second base for (hopefully only) a week or two.
The bullpen looked bad. Familia looked terrible. Jenrry Mejia looked pretty bad yesterday. Black and Parnell have their injury issues. Our starting pitching is good, but they can’t do it all, and as we continue to see, we shouldn’t be pushing our starting pitchers past their limits. So we need a bullpen we can trust, and I don’t think we have that right now. Familia and (to a lesser extent) Mejia were great last year, so hopefully they’ll get the job done when the season starts. But right now, the bullpen is definitely a cause for concern.
Of course, if the Mets keep up their awesome work with the bats, they could win games with me out there in the bullpen (I only like to pitch six days a week, so I wouldn’t be a good fit for Terry’s bullpen system, but you get my point).
Beating the Nationals is never easy, but you wouldn’t know that from watching the Mets wallop them today. Hopefully we can take all this positive energy into the season.
Up Next: The Mets will visit the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon. Dillon Gee will face Jaime Garcia at 1:05 PM.
